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Ninpocho Chronicles

Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.

Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.

Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.

The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.

This is Ninpocho Chronicles.

Current Ninpocho Time:

Peeling Back the Sands [private]

Takahashi Aki

Takahashi Aki

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Sousuke entered his old abandoned household with Shiori over his shoulder. Luckily the power was still on as he flipped switches to turn lights on. His pets were moved to the Kazekage tower due to the fire, but his apartment wasn't large enough to house all of them. He carried Shiori to her old room. He had closed some of her wounds with her some minor healing jutsus, but it wasn't enough to bring her back to consciousness. He laid her down on the bed and left her there for a moment. He continued to turn lights in the household. Her life was still very much in his hands. He was very much hated the position he was in at the moment. He returned with a moment later with a bucket of water.

Ancient biology was something Sousuke was going to have to learn. He shook his head. Her choice of clothes was appalling. He removed her armour, but he did not clean her wounds. He observed her form. The bleeding sand. How did that work? He ran his finger down her arm taking a layer of red sand off. He looked at it. The sand ran through his fingers as he pinched it and allowed it to fall back onto her fallen nude form. The sand was not at all slick. It was not at all a liquid. Sousuke wondered if her body at all held liquid. The human body consisted of water. He reached forward and with his index finger and thumb opened her eye. He squinted hard to see. No liquid. The human biology was being mimicked here. There was space present. Was her eyeball being suspended then by ... air? Entirely possible. Sousuke took hold of her wrist and looked at her hands. With some force he rubbed the skin to the point of peeling off some sand. Different tones of sand. Red was blood. This paler colour was supposedly a fleshy matrix. Fascinating truthfully. She was an elemental that just took the form of a human? What kept them alive? Sousuke checked for a pulse and found none. That was certainly disturbing. Was she dead? He pressed his ear to her chest and listened intently. There it was. No pulse but indeed a heartbeat.

Sousuke would back away. Truthfully he should have done this with Mikaboshi a long time ago. He did not though as he had respected his space. This if anything was an affront to the personal space one had. Sousuke scratched his forehead. This was so very frustrating. Shiori had the typical female anatomy. He knew Mikaboshi had sired children, but did Shiori? If so? How? Did they take human forms because ... they simply could? Appearing as a monster did oftentimes cause problems. Did they enjoy fornication? Maybe. Another question he did not ask Mikaboshi. Given Shiori's desire for his touch and ... wishing to be in his presence. Well. It did cause Sousuke to reconsider his current thought process. She did after all kiss him. Kiss him on the lips. He had kissed her on the forehead, and maybe ... on the cheek in passing a few times. She did oftentimes help him figure out things, like the overheating of the MkII.

Sousuke continued his research. Her hair was made of sand. Her skin was made of sand. Air escaped her form. The red sand that was made up of her hair was a different tone than her blood. At one point Sousuke most hesitantly tasted her blood. He knew what sand tasted like. He was victimized on the playground when he was small, and oftentimes he was driven face first into the sand box by Shizune when she wanted to. Sousuke licked his lips. No. There was no difference in each of the sand samples of flesh, hair, blood. He did at one point cut her open and observed her bone structure. A different grain of sand. He sealed up the wound and closed it. He started working on her to bring her back bit by bit. Using what little medical skills he had to regenerate her sands and to make her whole once more. He didn't quite yet bring her to. He left her with an estimated time frame of two minutes to come to. Sousuke leaned against the wall and slowly sank down. Did he enjoy tinkering and tampering with her unconscious body? Yes and no. He had come to understand the biology of ancients better. If it had been anyone other than Shiori? Yes, he would feel certainly better about it. He felt awful about it. Learning to better kill Ancients, but the test subject was someone he knew. This was a woman who he grew up with. Since he was born. They played with each other. Grew up together.

He managed to get up and rubbed his eyes. Two hours ago he was this close to murdering her. One hour ago he was studying her and more or less dissecting her to better understand how earth court ancients worked. Tears came down his face. Sousuke felt like a raw nerve exposed. He was very much an emotional mess. He caressed her shoulder. Damnit. He healed her, but at the same time he dissected her like a science experiment. Shiori was by no means human, and as such she was a subject of interest. Sousuke couldn't help himself in studying her. He still wasn't sure that letting her live, given what she would do, and did troubled him deeply.
 
Carried into the very household they once briefly shared. Shiori remained limp, a trail of crimson sand led whomever might take notice a path from the sleazy hotel that was meant to be her grave to the Steward's former home. Houses still existed underground, not everyone had relocated to the surface and perhaps they never would. Some preferred the life they had carved out in this subterranean empire one could assume or perhaps it was the fear of change or even the devastation that nature threatened. The storm had plagued the surface for decades was the source of fear and pain, and a terrible plight that she had remained idle against despite hearing those cries. In the face of such a dangerous force that caused mankind to flee beneath the earth into the belly of Barynx, she did not care and she did not respond.

Shiori remained in this limbo space, metaphorically suspended between life and death. She would not take kindly to Sousuke stripping her bare, did the armor truly cover much and what little it did should have been of passing concern to a scientist but not a pervert. All the same, her coverings were taken from her. It would be a wonder to know if she would feel shame or confusion or anger that her privacy was invaded in such a way. She, much like her brethren were prideful creatures, but no. The lack of clothes would not bother her, but the fact that it was done without her consent would. Blood still stained her body and left her body in a slow, steady trickle. The fine granules, most certainly sand. Such fine, almost dust-like fragments that were closer to the texture of powdered sugar than the gritty surface one would traverse on a beach or even the golden duns of Wind Country.

He forced her eye open with his fingers. Her pale blue eye looked rather normal, at least from the outside. Her pupil did not constrict in reaction to the light of the bedroom in which she was laid. Perhaps she was brain-0dead, that would have been what a Medic would have thought had they examined her body. If he was forceful enough in his assessment, he would see that her eye was unattached. That there was no optic nerve. That there was no connective tissue to hold her eye in place. Just a gentle pulse of wind that maintained her orbits position. Strange fact, the human body was a first for her and the eyes were one of the most difficult anatomical aspects for her to replicate, she did not know how to do such without exposing her true eyes and with it the churning nexus of sand and earth that truly made her so... she went blind instead.

Shiori would be in exceptional pain if she was conscious when Sousuke rubbed his hands violently against her wrist. It was much smaller than his hands and had to be done with the force sufficient enough to literally rub away a normal person's flesh, perhaps a bit more. The flesh-colored sand he had liberated from her would leave a burn-like marking on her arm as the scarlet sands dripped past this breech. If he pressed near where he rubbed away her skin or if he tried to find her carotid, the result would be the same. She had no pulse because she had no circulatory system. There was no radial artery to palpate. There was no carotid artery to compress. Yet still, when he pressed his ear against her chest he would hear the sounds of life. She was made entirely of sand and air but a low hymn seemed to emanate from her. It was like a metronome in its' constant, percussive rhythm. She had the sounds of life, but she had no heart. She was a reasonable facsimile of a human woman but upon closer inspection she was not even close. Still, in a way they were not that different at all -- they loves, they hated, they fought and they made amends. They felt hunger and love and even pain.

She had children, many children in fact. She possessed the moniker 'Mother' for good reason, but not a single one of hers were half-breeds. She actually found the concept of human copulation disgusting, the exchange of fluids and the prolonged periods of relative proximity. Besides, she had always been an opponent to bestiality. Ancients did not have sex in the conventional manner, rather they breathed life into their element because they were life. Could other Ancients fornicate? Perhaps, but such physical intimacy between the courts was unheard of -- it was always a competition between the various Courts for supremacy and territory, distrust pervaded their every action. As for within her own Court, a mother would never do that with her child. What she had felt for Sousuke she could not quantify or explain, not that she felt it at this moment.. That that she would let herself feel that way any longer. She had sought this end, calling to him and forcing his hand but she did not want to be an experiment, she wanted to be imprisoned or dead. Both were 'ways out' for her, but this. Not this.

There was something intrusive about what Sousuke was doing. This cold, calculated assessment of her form and biology. He was looking not to change her or 'save' her, there was nothing to save. She was never human, this was not done to her so there is was nothing to undo. He was looking for how to better kill her. How to better hurt her. It was a cruel fate, these sentiments that life and humanity seemed to leave attached. Mostly starved, and gravely emaciated although one would not know to look at her. She ate 'enough' it would appear if one would believe her human form, rather average and 'healthy' but the same could not be said of the sluggish churning nexus that was housed within. Her glory and power so diminished. The earth provided meager sustenance, enough to carry on but never to heal. She was suffering from diminishing returns at this point, it took months to recover from Shouki's assault and with her wasteful display on this day she would need many souls to return to even what she was.

He cut into her, deep enough to meet bone. Her bony structure did in fact mimic that of a human, although perhaps it was a bit off. Who needed a tibia and a fibula, who needed both an ulnar and a radius. She lacked the connective structures of tendons and ligaments entirely but how much did he have to dissect her to truly see this. Inside, there was sand. Lots of red sand but it was moving and whirling. It was quivering and it was shrinking away. Like a tornado held back by a thin layer of pliable porcelain flesh, her osseous matrix was simply crystal sands. What he was doing was far beyond his skill-level as a non-medic. In fact, there was a reason dissections were done only on the dead. He would seal the deep, cutting wounds he made but that did not mean that they were healed. That did not make his actions sterile. She had lost a great deal of 'blood', both during the battle and the aftermath. She was continuing to die, perhaps she would get her wish after all.

The sand, the same sand he forced from her by breaking her flesh through more than one mean did seem to have a life of its own. She was a living element, she was the desert. The grains of earth that he consumed did in fact taste like earth but also they quavered as they were pushed down his gullet. Tiny thread-like stands of sand seemed to creep from him, but only when not in Sousuke's immediate view. As if they did not want to be seen. What was it doing? Was it searching? Was it hunting? If he remembered her warning, she told them to avoid her blood. Her blood was in some way dangerous. Her shell started to crack, like a broken plate. Sands spilled from her, filling the bed and covering the floor.

Step back Sousuke.
[Not much to say, I am unconscious and all.]​
 
"Damn."<i></i> Sousuke uttered as Shiori's form began to crack apart. He was not a medic. More importantly he doubted even a proper medic could fix this. This was a big problem. Sousuke's hand reached up and grabbed his hair. Before he would be cooler, and calmer about this. Shiori for better or worse was a person he knew. If it was Kaito, Urufuu, Naganisa, or Magentica he would care less about their fate. His mind raced through the options. Shiori was made of sand. He could strengthen her form by making it merge with elements of a similar structure. "Damn my curiosity."<i></i> He said as his thought of his large skill set. Shiori was wounded before from their encounter. Yes. He had cut into her, but her other wounds? Most likely from the encounter with Shouki. Sousuke watched painfully as the crack deepened. Was this some sort of strange equivalent to bruising?

Sousuke's eyes twitched. Did something curl out of the corner of his eye? Was he seeing things? It was all a possibility. He had been awake for far too long. Sousuke closed his eyes for a moment. Earth jutsus. He could place her in an earth armor. Attempt to fill in the gaps of her flesh and attempt to fuse the two by healing it. That was only a bandaid. She needed something stronger? He considered his options. He formed hand seals and formulated his answer. He placed grasped her shoulder and began to feed into her a new element into her system. He coated her skin in amethyst. It was stronger than his natural earth armor. He watched as her body began to fill in with an the amethyst gemstone. The cracks began to fill it, but it wasn't enough. He considered his next options. His metallic hand clenched into a fist. He began to calculate what was the best area to strike. Usually the technique used was an offensive one but this time he used it not to further harm her but to heal her. He channeled a healing jutsu through his fist as he punched her square in the chest. He recoiled mentally as he did this. He watched as the flesh ... or rather sand and amethyst began to intermingle and meld together. The follow up came as Sousuke's hands glowed green and he used lesser techniques upon her.

Sousuke sighed. This was the second time he had been with a nude woman. The first time was a joke played against him. This was a very different situation one that was ... more of his own doing than the last time considered he had passed out due to alcohol. Sousuke chewed his lip. It seemed that his curiosity was a dangerous this. Shiori hopefully would not have to pay the price for it, but if she hadn't kidnapped Riyota then they wouldn't have been in this predicament. Sousuke's patchwork attempts to put Shiori back together would hopefully. As he finished the process, Sousuke would then go and coat Shiori's body in a coat of earthern armour. It was certainly less visible than the amethyst casting he had used to do the immediate work to refuse her being. Seeing as how Shiori an earth element, it was ... most favourable that she would control the armour on her own. Again Sousuke worked to bring her back, hopefully this time to some form of consciousness.
 
It was not bruising, it was the process of death. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust... from the elements from which she came, to those same elements she would return. This is what death looked like, something that was simultaneously terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The crimson waves that seemed to break through her glistened like rubies and littered the floor. Her body was breaking away like a fractured doll. Shiori's body convulsed and like a spider's web about her throat and chest the shell shattered and broke. A guttural sound escaped her, but it was not a cry in a conventional sense but rather the loss of her wind and her song that came with her dying breath. Like birth, death was not easy.

Her blood shifted and skittered on the floor in tiny, fine tendrils that halted when the Steward turned his gaze to them. It was a biological imperative and it did not chose, it did not know and it did not care, it only fed. Sousuke pressed down on Shiori's shoulder and her paper-thin shell started to bow and break under the pressure of his touch and he started to fill her with an alien element. Crystals started to form, deep purple and transparent and began to fill the gaps. Her blood receded back inside as if it had a life of its own. Certainly it staved off the bleeding, by impaling her in places and in others merely filling the wounds that covered her body. The crystalline-like structure was jagged and coarse but effective in a way, although this foreign substance was not the same as the earth and the sand or the wind and her song, it possessed water -- something her body naturally lacked. Her body revolted against it, much like an organ from a donor that was not a match. Yet still, for now it kept her alive.

Sousuke then proceeded to punch her back into 'good health.' His metallic fist struck her and her body stiff from the inert stone still folded on impact but some healing was derived. Her raw flesh competed for the places the crystals had already filled. Sousuke had pushed back the gloomy hand of death that had its cold, dead fingers about Shiori's throat but was it truly a kindness to do so. Shiori let out a gasp as her eyes flitted open. She only saw the ceiling from where she laid. She awakened screaming. She was in pain, horrific pain that she had never experienced before. Not only had she been beaten to the point of death, but new fresh and partly healed wounds were also created only to be filled a foreign substance that contradicted her actual nature. She did not even notice her state of undress as a sheet of earth seemed to engulf her. Thin, much like the shell she 'naturally' donned. Her first instinct was to try to stand. To try to run. But it hurt. It hurt so much. And it was strange, the room was full of screaming voices -- but there was nobody screaming but her.

Still she would try. Try to get up. Try to run. Where was she and what had happened? What went wrong with this cycle and how long did it take? WHY DID IT HURT? IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HURT LIKE THIS!
 
Why was Shiori screaming? How did anything of this make sense? None of it did. Ancient biology was so very complex. He thought using elements of the corresponding family tree would work. The screaming was breaking his train of thought. He couldn't hear himself think due to the screaming. Shiori was trying to make a break for it and escape. She couldn't. He needed to get her to stop screaming. Sousuke approached Shiori he looked at her square in the eyes. "I don't know why it is hurting, but I am going to try to fix this. I can't think though if you're screaming."<i></i> He tried communicating with her.

Sousuke paced about with his hands on his ears. Why was it hurting? He strengthened her form. Did she merely need time to adapt? Was that it? "Did she bleed out? I thought I had sealed them well enough. Obviously not."<i></i> Sousuke had considered. The amethyst armour was a strong elemental casing. Was it too far foreign for her system? She needed time to adapt. Maybe this was a trial by fire for her. "Does elemental flesh have this problem of being infused? Do I resort to completely re-establishing your structure? Metal? Gemstones? Do I virtually need to create a new element form of earth?"<i></i> Sousuke's mind was reeling. He literally had no idea how ancients reconstituted themselves. Could they even do so? Sousuke proceeded to make a do or die decision. He was going to pull out the amethyst casting and reinfuse her with metal. No. There was already an earth casting on her. It would be like trying exposing a nerve. "Shiori. Listen to me. I've closed your old wounds using an amethyst casting technique. Can you break down the core element and absorb it? Cast out the nutrients that you do not need. ... I don't even know if you can hear me."<i></i> Sousuke cursed again. "Come on Shiori. You're an earth elemental. I think. Absorb the new elemental in your system accordingly. Feed off of it? I don't know. "<i></i>
 
This was not how an Ancient worked. An Ancient feeds off of their element, most certainly but not in a literal sense. The elements in Sunagakure were alive, permeating through everything was an energy. An energy that did not exist outside of Wind Country. This energy, like food entered them through diffusion. If something as simple as eating a clod of earth could heal them or make them more powerful, certainly there would have been a very different dynamic among the Ancients. Proximity was what they required. Shiori was not made of crystal, while her bones might have looked like such it was more like the quality of glass. Asking her to absorb the nutrients from the crystal was like asking her to separate carbon from a loaf of bread.

She tried to stand, the crystal and the earth grated and crunched as she tried to move. Why was there so much screaming? The word was filled to the brim with noise. It felt as if she was ripped apart from the inside. Was that her? Was that terrible sound her agonized cries? It was. Sousuke approached her as she tried to rise only to tip over twice. Her eyes looked past him in this haze of pain for a moment before they could focus.

"I don't know why it is hurting, but I am going to try to fix this. I can't think though if you're screaming."

Stop screaming... Good plan. Shiori ceased, but not at Sousuke's command. The broken Ancient retched over the side of the bed but nothing came up and she gasped for air but this unforgiving form did not have the same elasticity. This amalgamation of crystal-earth and song let out a series of panting breaths between empty evacuations. "What did you do?" Shiori rasped painfully. She could not cry, everything was trapped inside and it burned. "Coi ouithic," Suna panted in her true tongue -- it hurts.

"Did she bleed out? I thought I had sealed them well enough. Obviously not."

Sousuke mused, speaking out loud of his hypothesis's. Shiori gritted her teeth, the sounds of pain still escaped her as she tried to do something. To stand. To walk. To breathe.

"Does elemental flesh have this problem of being infused? Do I resort to completely re-establishing your structure? Metal? Gemstones? Do I virtually need to create a new element form of earth?"

"Why. Don't. You. Just. End. This?" She choked, referring to her unfortunate existence. Was this punishment for the pain she had inflicted on the boy? Was this his indignant wrath? A reflection of his selfish boredom and dangerous curiosity now that he knew she was not human. "Coi ouithic," she repeated. Suna tried to stand and braced herself against the wall. The crystal groaned in protest and her sand scraped as she stood upright, her posture poor and kyphotic. Her hair hung lifelessly in front of her, partly obscuring her sight.

"Shiori. Listen to me. I've closed your old wounds using an amethyst casting technique. Can you break down the core element and absorb it? Cast out the nutrients that you do not need. ... I don't even know if you can hear me."</B><i></i>

Sousuke instructed. <B>"No," she huffed.

"Come on Shiori. You're an earth elemental. I think. Absorb the new elemental in your system accordingly. Feed off of it? I don't know."

He continued to order her. "I can't!" Shiori yelled although her rough voice was barely more than a whisper. "It does not work that way!" This was why she ate thrice in the past three decades, she was not going to heal with a few bandages within his lifetime. She was not going to be able to recover if she 'ate well'. She did not have the option to go to a Medic and seek healing, she was not even close to human. They would know and she would be hunted, enslaved or killed. She ate for the same reasons he did -- to live. Was the sacrifice of the noble turkey lesser than that of a man? Especially considering she took the lives of fewer in all of her time than they in a year. "I do not get better, I just die," she admitted. So, KILL me so I can live in another time. One without you. One where I will not be alone. Do it to avoid watching me destroy your empire," she stumbled but caught herself on the wall. "I will die before I share my brother's fate and you do not have the time to fetter me to your blade." That was it, that was the truth. She wanted one of two options: to die or to see Sousuke's empire burn. She forced his hand so that she would not suffer a third option. She feared that one, the one her brother endured for those years in silent suffering. He was changing and he was somehow no longer burdened, the intimacies of their pact were unknown to her but he had found a loophole. Her time would come, but it would be delayed.
 
"I am trying to restore you."</B><i></i> He answered as to what he did. She was trying to retch come out. Nothing came. Sousuke was hard pressed. He had to describe it to her in a way she would understand. "Your face was cracking up, so I used an amethyst casting to fill in the gaps to bring structural form. Think of it like ... like a ... a ... a bone replacement. Except it was with your fleshy matrix and core structure."<i></i> Shiori was in pain and lots of it. Shiori stood up, he walked over to her and tried to help her stand up straight. She began to say a series of words over and over. It was perhaps an old language of hers? Maybe it was something in the human language?

She then informed him that she could not in fact absorb the amethyst. Why? It was a gemstone. It came from the earth. You could grind it up. "Okay. You cannot. That makes little sense to me, but ... duly noted. Okay. So it doesn't work like that."<i></i> He could remove the amethyst casting. She would be only closer to ... death. "NO!"<i></i> He shouted at her in response to killing her. "I am NOT doing that. I never wanted an empire damnit! I was meant to hold things together until a Sunahoshi returned. One did, and he will not take a position of power! I am stuck here holding a metaphorical crown that has no head to be sat upon, and I really do not want to wear it myself!"<i></i> He gritted his teeth. Blast. How does one go about fixing that. "I have no intentions of doing to you what happened to Mikaboshi. I am trying to help you. I am not ready yet to bury you. I am not emotionally ready to lose another person in my life! Even if you are a murderess who desires to bring ruin upon me!"<i></i> He was in a very rough predicament. He watched Shiori push herself against the wall. "I don't want you to die." He clenched his fists. <B>"I am going to remove the amethyst casting. You still have an earthern layer for skin right now. You would have bled out or crumbled entirely."<i></i> Sousuke held his hand out and sensed the amethyst casting in her being. He called to it and caused it to phase out. Immediately Sousuke went to go to help Shiori from falling over entirely. Her form now would be even more frail considering it was not longer being strengthened
 
"I am trying to restore you."

Sousuke claimed. Shiori looked down and noticed her lack of armor. What happened to it? All she saw was a film of earth that was not hers. "What? ...Why?" She was confused. What happened when she was unconscious and how long was she out?

"Your face was cracking up, so I used an amethyst casting to fill in the gaps to bring structural form. Think of it like ... like a ... a ... a bone replacement. Except it was with your fleshy matrix and core structure."

Sousuke tried to explain. A graft over a small area would take months to heal and had a fair chance of failure when it was allograft in humans. That was part of the problem, her body was rejecting this strange gem that now permeated her body. This hyperecute rejection was attempting to finish the job. "That means I was already dying and you killed me," she countered. Ancients did not come down with a sudden case of death, they had to be killed so Sousuke must have finished the deed.

"Okay. You cannot. That makes little sense to me, but ... duly noted. Okay. So it doesn't work like that."

Shiori staggered towards the door and reached for the knob. She tried to bend her near-frozen fingers, a mixture of glistening gems and hardened mire. She begged Sousuke to kill her. To end her suffering. To prevent a fate she feared more than pain or death. There had to be something worth protecting, worth loving. His friends. His family. His empire.

"NO. I am NOT doing that. I never wanted an empire damnit! I was meant to hold things together until a Sunahoshi returned. One did, and he will not take a position of power! I am stuck here holding a metaphorical crown that has no head to be sat upon, and I really do not want to wear it myself!"

Her head sunk down, she did not want to look at him. Know what he did when she was unconscious. What he did to take her life. Why he changed his mind so late in the game. "Time is running out, I will not give you the option of..." she started to cough feebly. She was going to say again, do what you did to my brother. Her consciousness was swimming and her mind was loose. Which direction was she going in this haze. The direction with the light. Always follow the light.~

"I have no intentions of doing to you what happened to Mikaboshi. I am trying to help you. I am not ready yet to bury you. I am not emotionally ready to lose another person in my life! Even if you are a murderess who desires to bring ruin upon me!"

"I. Don't. Trust. You." She admitted. She didn't and that was the problem. She had done nothing to earn a better station in his mind and despite her efforts she was nothing more than a passing consideration. He did something to her because she was dead but not allowed to die. She was missing her clothes but with it did not come shame but rather indignation. "What have I done to you specifically?" Shiori hissed. "List for me your trespasses and I will counter with yours," Shiori replied reacting more like a cornered animal than a soothed beast.

"I don't want you to die."

Sousuke admitted. Shiori's eyes widened slightly, that was not the response she expected to hear. Did that mean remain like this, in a state of constant pain and torment? To be a monstrosity. Despite her uncovered form, being as it was -- bare, this was not her body. Ridges of crystal had sprouted from her body and felt like spears had pierced her body whenever she tried to move. This thin shell of earth, barely a bandage considering it would resolve in a short time. It would only have seconds before it, like the crystals would break away and then what would be left but a hollowed and broken shell. "You are merely delaying the inevitable," she realized just then in a state of calm. She was dead and that was not going to change. "Meaning I will be free," her face forced a smile that strained what little flesh remained.

"I am going to remove the amethyst casting. You still have an earthern layer for skin right now. You would have bled out or crumbled entirely."

"No. ...Don't," she replied. It was too late, as Sousuke dropped the ninjutsu the crystals shattered and broke. The nexus of support created by the crystals prevented flesh from filling these gaps made wider by the very presence of these insert gems. Shiori let out a howl that she could not even recognize that sounded like a wounded animal. She could not stand as her body broke down, her fingers still wrapped around the doorknob an audible *snap* could be heard as her brittle fingers fractured under the sudden momentum of her descent.
 
Shiori fell and again Sousuke went to her side. He wasn't sure if he made her worse or better by removing the amethyst casting. Her body was not taking well to it. He got on his knees and picked up her failing form. "Humans do that. Delay the inevitable. This shouldn't surprise you."<i></i> He rocked her slowly. As even more so he was not sure of what to do. "My father is gone. Whether or not you killed him is truly known. You killed his brother and his wife and so ... naturally one comes to such a conclusion. My family is in ruins. Okibi is gone. My mother has vanished."<i></i> He would not speak of his grandmother. "I've failed enough people. I studied you. To better know Ancients. I thought that studying you could give me knowledge to have you restored or otherwise. The biology of an earth court Ancient is virtually an unknown. Unfortunately I have not learned enough. Ancients require souls, but there has to be alternative. Humans do not necessarily require the flesh of animals. They can rely upon other sources of food."<i></i> Part of him wanted to see her truly and simply die. Just to see what happened next. The death of an Ancient was something that had yet to be seen. The other part of him did not want to see her go. "Freedom. I guess that is one way of seeing this isn't it?"<i></i>

Sousuke considered more options. He began to channel healing chakra into her. "Amethyst casting didn't work. There is a closer alternative."<i></i> He continued to channel the healing chakra. "Have to assume your sand texture is of the diamond sand matrix."<i></i> He channeled his chakra and went into the realm of diamond jutsus. There was only one. It was used more offensively, but this time it was going to be used differently. Instead he used the jutsu through Shiori. "This is probably going to hurt you more than me. No sudden gestures."<i></i> He warned as he began to channel the jutsu in tandum with the healing jutsu. "You may not trust me. I honestly do not know myself how to properly treat an Ancient. I doubt anyone would. We may not be family, but I certainly am not going to be the last of my name. Even if you're an ancient or otherwise."<i></i> There was fear and desperation in Sousuke's eyes. He was very afraid of failing here and now. He had to restore her structure he was now using what he thought of at least to be her core element even more so now. Diamonds. His mind was reeling with the knowledge he had gained and what was to come next. "This isn't meant to hurt."<i></i> Again he struck Shiori using the same healing technique from before in the gut which hopefully now was turning to diamond. Sousuke cut himself in the process of doing so. His minor medical techniques did not have the instant effect this one did. Then again this was a taijutsu technique. "Again."<i></i> He warned as charged his mechanical hand again with chakra and decked her again in the gut.
 
She was essentially hollow and defied what Sousuke would know of both physics and biology at this point. Writhing with barely any form left that was her own. Shredded for the most part, the carpet could be seen through her. She was gasping and sobbing from the pain, as Sousuke tried to lift her he would feel the air she breathed escaped through her back. She was as light as a pile of papers now, there was not much left of her that was actually her. The pain of having almost every literal fiber parted was indescribable, while still maintaining this form or any for that matter. Death was respite.

"Humans do that. Delay the inevitable. This shouldn't surprise you."

"Life is too short for a delay," Shiori gasped. To her his span was like that of a mayfly, here and gone in a blink of an eye. Her protracted existence spanned the centuries, to the point where her origins and the earliest times of man and before were a haze. "Unlike me, you have but one life to live."

"My father is gone. Whether or not you killed him is truly known. You killed his brother and his wife and so ... naturally one comes to such a conclusion. My family is in ruins. Okibi is gone. My mother has vanished."

He rocked her, or rather what was left of her. This semi-human form that was barely more than tatters. The earthen shell made craters and lined wells that reached through clearly to the other side. She could not even hold her head up as she remained limp. If a strong breeze were to blow through here, she would simply float away. "You would not believe me no matter what I had to say," she admitted. "I have only knowledge of Jinsei and Nagomi's passing, but I tried --" She sighed. She actually 'tried' to save them, recover something of what they were. She was 'raised' by them after all, but not of their own volition and perhaps for them death too would have been a kindness. She did not finish her statement, in death... if this one was to be her final one for whatever reason and that was why it hurt so, then perhaps they too would finally be allowed to end their mortal toil.

"I've failed enough people. I studied you. To better know Ancients. I thought that studying you could give me knowledge to have you restored or otherwise. The biology of an earth court Ancient is virtually an unknown. Unfortunately I have not learned enough. Ancients require souls, but there has to be alternative. Humans do not necessarily require the flesh of animals. They can rely upon other sources of food."

So that was why she had new injuries. New pain in places she had not before. She did not know that he had cut into her, clean to the bone. That he tasted her blood and her flesh. She did not know what he had learned about her and the form that she had chosen. Of course the question was -- why her and why now? She was dying, his sword hurt a lot more than they used to. So why now, out of regret? Spite? Pure curiosity. Was she just an oddity that compelled him to want to know more, not for her sake but for science. To know what he did not know. To see what he had never seen. "The desert sustains me, but it would take decades to heal me," she admitted. The desert provides only what is necessary and nothing more. The desert was not a thing of abundance but rather survival, something she scraped to maintain and because of that she was stronger than most in her prime but it took longer for her to ascend on her own. "Do you honestly thing I enjoy eating to survive?" She rasped.

"Amethyst casting didn't work. There is a closer alternative." Sousuke mused. "Have to assume your sand texture is of the diamond sand matrix."</B><i></i>

<B>"No. No, it is not," Shiori protested. The diamond from the sands was caused by the Sunahoshi's lightning which burned the sands and turned it to glass. Better known to most as fulgurite, these razor-sharp glass- or rather diamond-like shards that would rip and tear through the flesh of travelers and kept the sandworms at bay. "That was a Sunahoshi variant," she tried to explain.

"This is probably going to hurt you more than me. No sudden gestures."

"...wait," she pleaded, "please kill me. Just stop."

A shell of diamond started to form over her body. Shiori froze in place, a shell of diamonds ensconced her midsection. Frozen in place, but the bleeding from her gut had ceased.

"You may not trust me. I honestly do not know myself how to properly treat an Ancient. I doubt anyone would. We may not be family, but I certainly am not going to be the last of my name. Even if you're an ancient or otherwise."

"This isn't meant to hurt."

Sousuke warned before he punched her in the gut. She folded on impact as his mechanical arm whirled and retracted to prepare for a second strike.

"Again."

Sousuke announced as he struck her again. The metal pinged against the diamond shell. he was right in one regard, it was the first thing Sousuke did that did not actually hurt. In regards to Shiori herself, his blows were powerful indeed. His blows if they intended to harm her would have killed her, but in this strange reversal what should have killed her in fact healed her. Some of the deeper wounds healed, not entirely. Her flesh still open and raw in many places, there was at least a form. a humanoid form rather than what resembled a pile of rags at least now laid in his arms.
 
Shiori was at least in a better condition now then she was in five minutes ago. Her midriff and her chest area had turned to diamond. "Okay. This is certainly an improvement."<i></i> He sighed. He relaxed slightly. The science minded part of his mind was delighted. He placed his index index and thumb near her belly button. This is not how the jutsu was meant to work. This was what his chosen path with it was though. Diamond. Perfect in form. His thoughts rewound as she had explained that the diamond sand was a variant. Not her actual sand. "Wait. Really? The sand that makes your form is not the Sunahoshi sand?"<i></i> Sousuke had been at the lightning wall indeed, but at that time he was trying not to get destroyed by the rogue supposed Sunahoshi. It was the fact that it snowed, rained, nearly all hazardous weather effects. "Another myth. Dispelled in its entirety."<i></i> He sighed. It was very hard dealing with mythical beings. "Did the diamond intermingle with your body? Is it being absorbed? Is it integrating? Does it need to be strengthen?"<i></i> A quick fire round of questioned was being shot at her. "I don't have decades to repair you. I will be an old man... and probably without hair."<i></i> He admitted, "It's not that I would not do that, it is just ... that it would be very hard. Like you said to me once, time is not on my side. It is on yours, but ..."<i></i> He looked to the side. "Family is not meant to be alone."<i></i> It was a difficult concept for him to say. Despite their disagreements, Sousuke was still closer to Shiori than Jin'ichi who was acclimating himself to the family. He wondered at times if Jin'ichi and him would ever share the same experiences he had with Shiori when they were little. Not that it was childish adventures, it was just that sense of familiarity.

Sousuke would continue to channel mystic hand and feeding into Shiori. While the bleeding in her chest had been stopped. He continued to expand the diamond form. He needed to give her structure. For a moment he thought of covering her head to toe in the diamond jutsu, but that perhaps was not in her best interest. He proceeds to very softly run his hand up and down the side of her arm to begin healing her limbs. The diamonds began to expand and grow after he ran his hand over her arm. Shiori would have to be given form. He wasn't sure if the form would last or if it could for that matter. "Now then let's try expanding the technique but attending to your shell one piece at a time."<i></i> Sousuke continued his work as he was trying to restore her. "These wounds will not close themselves."<i></i>
 
"Okay. This is certainly an improvement."

A shell of diamond covered a large portion of her torso. She still ached, her body was not repaired but this exoskeleton was holding her together. Beneath the glistening surface she was still in literal tatters. Shiori grunted painfully as she tried to sit up. She was heavy, this sheet of pure carbon that was holding her together. Her stomach was stick and cold, hard as stone or rather diamonds. The diamonds grated as she tried to move.

"Wait. Really? The sand that makes your form is not the Sunahoshi sand?"

He commented, the discovery momentarily taking precedence over the task at hand. "No, I am made of my Sand... you are not made of Harupia's flesh," Shiori grunted. Just because you are both humans or possess a single facet of a powerset, does not mean that you are one in the same. "Brawlers and storm callers, they should have belonged to Fuujin," Shiori let out a low rumbling laugh. The Sunahoshi came from Homura's court, the family was bred to fight and to survive. They possessed exceptional durability and it was unintended and unknown at the time but many also possessed an affinity for the storm.

"Another myth. Dispelled in its entirety."

He commented. It was true, most of what he believed as nothing more than myth at this point. Romanticized accounts of wars between gods and how mortal man took them down. How her benevolence carved out the hierarchy they still so blindly subscribe to. Shiori winced as she peered over Sousuke's shoulder. Was she home? Strange she referred to it in such a way, as home. It was her bedroom, now in a state of disarray which was not a far cry from its base state admittedly. Her remains, utterly inert seemed scattered over the bedroom. It was then that she came to a revelation. He had a 'god-killing blade' or at least a reasonable attempt at one. It was not the same as the man who fought he in the alleyway and burned her shoulder with a single blow. He was likely dead, whoever he was. It was said he was a member of the Cabal, how he came upon the weapon was beyond her but that was one of the few wounds that refused to heal even with medical ninjutsu. It was one of the wounds she had to eat to repair. She denied her ravenous hunger for months in the wake of the assault, she denied herself until the day she declared war on the Steward. She declared war on humanity. She shifted restlessly. He was close, too close. She had underestimated his speed and his ability to replicate forgotten technology.

"Did the diamond intermingle with your body? Is it being absorbed? Is it integrating? Does it need to be strengthen?"

"No, I am fine," she lied as she struggled to try to stand.

"I don't have decades to repair you. I will be an old man... and probably without hair."

"I can repair myself," she commented. It was a nice way of saying I will have a good meal and be okay. It was true, she did not need his healing. She needed to eat. She also needed to get away. She did not understand the mental process that directed this human. He had went to such lengths to ensure her utter, complete and permanent destruction and yet now he was trying to bring her back. Was he cruel enough to toy with her mind and her heart? Was he simply seeking to prolong the agony of her death?

"It's not that I would not do that, it is just ... that it would be very hard. Like you said to me once, time is not on my side. It is on yours, but ..."

She pushed him back feebly, the sensation would be like as if a bit of cardboard in the shape of a hand tried to push him back. "I. Am. Fine," she protested. "I do not want your pity if that is what this is. And if this is an act of vengeance to make me suffer as so, then drop the pretenses..." she demanded. Sousuke was either the worst medic in history or the best interrogator Sunagakure had ever created, simply his skill set was never put to proper use. "Even the Deep Court cannot lie."

"Family is not meant to be alone."

Shiori frowned at the statement with what little remained of it. "But... we are," alone that is. She had been alone for a terribly long time. Her children had fled or were slaughtered a long time ago. Her allies, friends, even rivals or enemies - gone. "But I have Homura... Fuujin... and Mikaboshi, and you have Jin'ichi and that odd child," she coughed. She was referencing what was held in the sarcophagi in the desert, those entities that were set free. She had no reason to believe that they were anything but the real thing. "Only cost me ...some space," a reference that Sousuke would likely not grasp. She had made a deal, she had bound herself to whatever it was that was housed within that strange man. She did so willingly and without hesitation, much like when she scarified her form and her life along with her full power-set in a failed attempt to resurrect them the time before.

"Now then let's try expanding the technique but attending to your shell one piece at a time."

Her weight would increase considerably as Sousuke ran his hand over her shattered form. She fell back from the new weight, not able to hold herself up in her broken state. It was not harming her, but it was heavy. So heavy. Her arm quivered as she tried to force her arm to rise, it made it half-way before it fell and clattered against her already diamond encrusted torso.

"These wounds will not close themselves."

He announced, he was right they would not close independently. Even now, they were not repaired, only bandaged. Beneath this glistening, lovely exterior was the shredded remains of an Ancient. The crystalline shell seemed to creep over her flesh, encasing it behind a wall of this prismatic precious stone. Her weight doubled, perhaps tripled from where or what it was in even her 'healthy' form, it would be doubtful Sousuke would be able to hold her up much longer. The only other benefit to speak of is the fact that giving him yet another uncalled for shot before fleeing was out of the question since she could barely lift her own arm.
 
As Sousuke flailed through another attempt to heal Shiori there came a hard, insistent knock on the door. Not the sort of "hey, can I please come in?" sort of knock but rather the sort often done by officers of the law before shouting something to the effect of "police open up!". Still, no shout came but the implicit request behind the knock for Sousuke to answer the door to his room was still quite present. Who could possibly be knocking at this door, at this time, in this location? Oddly enough it was a door within the home rather than the external one... truly an odd occurrence.

Once Sousuke answered the door, he would find Mikaboshi standing behind it with his hands clasped behind his back in typical fashion and a strange young man standing to the ANBU Sennin's right flank. The young man was tall for his age but thin -- much more thin than the average kid around his age, twelve or thirteen maybe, would or should have been. He was dressed in drabby street clothing which clearly marked him for one of the many street youths which populated the streets of Sietch Zensunna since the Cabal attacks. Likely having lost his parents in the attack the young man would have had nowhere else to go but to have been picked up and assimilated into one of the various street gangs which now owned the alleys and back streets of the underground now that those with the money and status to move to the surface and into the new residential colony there had fled the desiccated corpse of Old Sungakure.

"Hello, Sousuke." Greeted Mikaboshi, his voice calm and his tone casual. This would have been the first time that Mikaboshi and Sousuke had seen each other in over a year yet despite that Mikaboshi had nothing to say for himself beyond an incredibly informal "hello". After a moment, Mikaboshi's face would scowl behind his mask before nudging the child standing next to him causing the young man to jump as if he were very nervous about something. "Speak, boy. Greet the Steward."

"H-Hello, sir."

The young man's voice was weak and shaky, a likely symptom of the combined stress of being swept into the service of a certifiable, and terrifying, urban myth.

"This is Goro Saitama." Explained Mikaboshi as he brushed past Sousuke without waiting for the Steward to invite him in. "He is a companion that I picked up just recently."

Quick in stride, Mikaboshi would sweep forward to Suna's side as she lay still and shake his head before remarking, "Hi los pruzah."

The statement, translated to literal common, was simply "you are unwell" but in the context of his statement it was more sarcastic than anything. It would be obvious to any casual observer that Suna was not in good health and Mikaboshi's overstatement of the obvious was an attempt to lighten that for her sake but in a way that only one of her kind could. Bringing his hand up with his fingers curled into a fist save for his index finger, the tip of his extended finger would sparkle for a moment as he drew chakra to it -- shimmering with a darkly fascinating glow. This was the very stuff of life: raw soul energy. Even such a tiny spark of it could be considered a rather large collection of energy and the ramifications of Mikaboshi possessing such a substance in quantity enough to simply produce a spark of it were grim indeed...

It meant that he had hunted and fed. Recently and in great volume.

Reaching forward, Mikaboshi offered the morsel of energy to Shiori which perhaps was the most terrifying gesture of all to any who knew anything about the biology of their kind. For him to not only possess such a mass of energy but be willing to proffer it to another... it meant that the last hunt he'd engaged in had been one of gluttonously large size. He'd killed more than he'd had to and taken more than he'd needed. It was frighteningly reminiscent of another ancient who had once grown accustomed to the freedom to hunt when, where and in whatever quantity he wanted.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3A-lJQlrmk]SCENE BGM[/url]]"]
mikaboshipost.png

Mikaboshi - Sand ANBU Sennin
sand_sennin.gif
[/legend][/col]
 
The loud knock at the door was something that irritated Sousuke. Sousuke gritted his teeth as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll be back in a moment."<i></i> Sousuke turned back one more time, "And no. You're not supposed to be alone. Family is supposed to fill a void or gap in one's life. It's ... not pity, and it's not vengeance. It's something else entirely different. It's-- maybe it is pity? I don't know if I am to be honest. Emotions are tiring, and more importantly this Toraono soul business take-over is ... ... I don't like it."<i></i> Again came the door banging. "There are few people who openly I want vengeance against. I cannot do as such unfortunately because of the orders given to me."<i></i> Sousuke went down the stairs and opened the door, but not before conjuring a plasma sphere at his side to light the way down. Sousuke answered the door to a face he was not expecting, nor did he truly desire to see at this moment in time.

"Salutations Mikaboshi. How unexpected of you to arrive."<i></i> Sousuke answered. He was half a mind to make a more snide remark. Indeed the two had not seen each other in over a year. Sousuke's eyes shifted to the youth that was in his service. "Companion of a forced association."<i></i> Sousuke commented. Mikaboshi merely walked his way in. Given the direction he was going he seemed to know who and what was exactly going on here. With the plasma ball in hand Sousuke merely followed the shadowed entity back through his house. Mikaboshi knew his way here. He had been here at least once, and that was due to the encounter with the Outsider. He watched merely as Mikaboshi spoke some words he did not comprehend. A dialect perhaps or ancient language between Ancients. He watched the interaction between the two and his eyes strained and narrowed upon the glimmer. There was a sickening feeling to it. One that brought a sense of dread to Sousuke. "Souls."<i></i> He simply stated more for himself than Mikaboshi. Sousuke was fascinated by the grotesque display. Given the accusations that hung on Mikaboshi since setting fire to his apartment, it did make him wonder. Where these the souls of his neighbors? Thugs? It was not a warm or welcoming feeling Sousuke had. "How many?"<i></i>

His eyes shifted between Shiori and Mikaboshi. This would restore her. Sousuke then grew quite concerned. The two of them would then in fact turn on him here, and again what happened to his apartment could and probably would happen again. His injuries were not as bad as Shiori's but he was not quite in a position of having to deal with the two of them at the same time. Sousuke leaned against the wall, as he watched with wide eyes what was going to happen, more importantly what was going to happen next. Part of him very much wanted to look away, but he had to see this. Watch it, and if he survived the encounter that was most likely to follow, record it. He couldn't truly sense him with the Black Blade, which was something of a very great and large concern.
 
It had been a several days since Kazuki and Sousuke had fought and defeat Zzzax, the Phoenix Force's first lieutenant. The Lightning Lord. It was then that the Overlord showed the Steward is his trump card. The White Wolf's ultimate ability that reserved for very important battles. Said ability was still on cooldown so he could not resort to it, even if needed. The Silvery Haired Man was in the neighborhood so he decided to play a visit to the Kage. He had grown accustomed to not having the luxury of having meetings, with Sunan people, that went calm and uneventful. And it seemed this time it would be the same. Upon arriving at the house, the former Sennin immediately noticed something was wrong. The first clue was the opened door. The second one was the silence. Intense, almost palpable, as if tension had accumulated so much you could cut it with a knife. Reaper ventured forth to the unknown.

Kazuki entered Sousuke's house in complete silence as he did not know what to expect. He was about to enter a darkened room when he heard voices from somewhere else. Using said voices as a guide, the Overlord made his way toward where two living ancients and one human stood. His approach heralded three things, two of which were probably already in effect. A sudden drop in temperature, something much more noticeable now that there two beings with said capability in one room. The second one, and probably shared as well, was the flickering of shadows whenever the White Wolf was present. In fact, he was also accompanied by a dimness of light, as if shadows grew more intense with his sheer presence. And the third one, and one that the Deep Court Lord did not have, supposedly, was the howling of the wind. Something present even if there was no wind or even if they were inside a building, just like now.

Upon reaching the doorway, the Silvery Haired Man would notice that Sousuke was leaning against a wall. Mikaboshi was kneeling before Shiori and giving her something very shiny. Suna was in a very bad shape. And there was a random element, mix with all of that strangeness. A random boy. "Run." the former Sennin would whisper Goro an order. Not caring if he was going to be obeyed or not, Reaper placed himself under the doorway, effectively blocking everyone else from leaving and the boy from entering. "How many?" Sousuke would ask. "Enough." Kazuki would answer him, although the inquiry had not been directed to him. The Overlord was knowledgeable about those matters, since he sought them as well. And now that he had fully alerted to them to his presence, if the rest of the signs had not been enough already, something was about to hit the fan.

OC
The non-threatening and non-violent cavalry is here.
Can I rp with the Deep One without a slugfest please?
 
Sousuke continued to hold the tattered remains of his 'cousin' Shiori. The Steward's 'cousin' was being consumed by these diamonds, if one were to draw a parallel here one would likely refer to the Sunahoshi diamond sands. They were of course not one in the same, but the end result would be strikingly similar. It was hard to breathe -- her diaphragm had to push against the unforgiving and weighty presence of pure carbon. Her breath escaped in low pants. Sousuke continued his work, encasing her body in this prismatic crystal. It was heavy... She was heavy and it was not pliable at all. She was slowly becoming a living statue and her pain was not relieved, rather enhanced as her limbs and digits froze unnaturally. Sousuke did this all while acting as if he was doing this as an act of benevolence, it staved Suna's bleeding and likely saved Sousuke's soul from consumption. A series of sharp bangs could be heard distantly at the door. The sound gave Shiori a momentary flash of sight through the Kazekage's mostly empty and abandoned household. The Steward placed the Ancient on the ground, her statuesque form made a loud thud as it hit the carpet.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Sousuke announced as if he was about to get a cup of coffee. Shiori's eyes searched for a way out as she attempted to force her weighted and shredded body to move. She gritted her teeth, as all she met was painful resistance. The cracks on what little flesh that remained seemed to deepen still. Death was never a pleasant process but never had it been so prolonged. External intervention such as this was not practiced by Ancients for this very reason. Certainly medicine was used and death was never pursued but death was viewed differently by the immortal race as death was seen as a mere transition in time and form but little more. In fact death was meaningless to an Ancient before human intervention.

"And no. You're not supposed to be alone. Family is supposed to fill a void or gap in one's life. It's ... not pity, and it's not vengeance. It's something else entirely different. It's-- maybe it is pity? I don't know if I am to be honest. Emotions are tiring, and more importantly this Toraono soul business take-over is ... ... I don't like it."

Shiori's nude, twisted, frozen, broken form was left to lie there while Sousuke left to answer the door. The Steward continued to talk even after he parted. Perhaps he knew that she would hear him all the same.

"There are few people who openly I want vengeance against. I cannot do as such unfortunately because of the orders given to me."

The rapping continued and she could hear the latch slide and the door creak open. She could not see their faces, at least in true crystal clarity like she otherwise would. Death was too close, it was simply lingering. It was a dim, haze of lines and blob-like shapes that lacked any characteristic or form. Shiori's head fell back and rested against the floor. It was too much effort to hold it upright, much like a hospice patient in their last days. Her eyes stared up at the ceiling, that was pretty much the view that was left to her.

"Hello, Sousuke."

"Salutations Mikaboshi. How unexpected of you to arrive."

"Speak, boy. Greet the Steward."

"H-Hello, sir."

"This is Goro Saitama."

"Companion of a forced association."

"He is a companion that I picked up just recently."

Shiori tried to roll over, to do something besides sit there and listen to Sousuke entertain his guest. It took her a moment to realize that it was Mikaboshi who came knocking. She wondered what or rather why Mikaboshi had come. She did not call out to him, although she was not without sound. Her breaths escaped her in painful short rasps that exerted most of the energy that remained. She did not know how loud she was because she was not seeking his aid, there was nothing he could do except watch her die painfully by Sousuke's hand. She was dying here and now and there was nothing anyone could do. She let out an anguished cry as her body revolted against life itself, contorting what was left of her body spastically. She could feel the Deep Court Lord Mikaboshi before she could see him. The room dropped by several degrees and Shiori's breath condensated into small clouds before her and it heralded the ANBU Sennin's presence. Mikaboshi entered the bedroom and what remained of her would probably not be grotesque to his standards. Things died and were reborn all of the time and this was a part of that process, however the stick in the metaphorical spokes of this wheel would perhaps be seen as an atrocity.

"Hi los pruzah."

Shiori let out a low undulating hiss of air in what could be perceived as a laugh. 'Unwell' in her case is like saying that there is a little sand in the desert. "Zeymah," she coughed, using their native tongue to call him 'brother' once more. "Nid Faas... Ni los nuz a slen ahraan." 'Not to worry, it is but a flesh wound,' she forced a half laugh at her own expense. It was a strike to her dignity and modesty, not that she truly possessed the later, to be found in such a way. That was where the idle conversation would have to end. She wanted to die, even with the knowledge that this might be the final time she lived. Sousuke's blade had wounded her gravely and she wondered if this was the same agony that her brothers felt when she helplessly watched them both succumb to their grievous wounds. "Have you come to kill me?" She finally asked in common, pulling forth what little remained of her strength. She was not going to plead or cry for her life, while it was most precious to they who possessed 'life' and even if this was her last life to give, existing as this in such unrelenting pain was worse than the nothingness of death. She was not a religious woman or rather Ancient, she knew first hand how tales quickly bent and stretched until they became a legend and how a mythology could become a religion. There was nothing past this life or so that is what she truly believed. There were things that existed before and things that existed after, and perhaps things that endured but nothing controlled this world, created their fates or had a life beyond this one waiting. In fact there was a glimmer of hope in her voice, not that she was to be saved but rather that it would cease now.

It did not appear that was Mikaboshi's intent. Shiori's eyes widened when he lifted a single finger and from it came a spark. She recognized the tangible morsel that he summoned from within. It was calories or rather a surplus of energy that he was able to simply summon without pain, incident or harm. How great would his reserves have to be to do such? Shiori or rather Suna did not actually know for certain. She tried to give some of her essence once before to her brothers and the mere attempt reduced her to dust for centuries. 'What have you done?' "Fos lost hi dreh?" She gasped between guppy breaths, her face still contorted in pain but now also shock or perhaps fear. The gluttony necessary to fill such a voracious hunger to have excess was inconceivable to her, few as in only one, has ever done this and even then it was not with human souls alone but that of Ancients as well. That is what brought forth the taboo against consuming ones own kind. It was not that human souls could not yield the same end product, but rather that human souls were still flimsy and while they gave sustenance it would take so many that it was not even a fleeting concern. She wondered now if he had found it -- if he had found one of the hearts. She was too much a coward to consume what she had stolen.

"Souls." Sousuke verbally narrated. "How many?" He asked, but Shiori had no answer and it was unlikely that the Sennin was in a sharing mood considering the fact that he revealed something rather intimate about himself before his former captor.

"Enough," a second voice that was familiar to her announced. The chill seemed to double, thankfully visual indicators were covered in erm... diamonds. (OC: god sake guys, cover me up) Another player had entered the scene. She did not know what drew them all here at this very moment, but this could be a turning point in a war that had barely begun.
 
Despite Kazuki's order Goro stayed where he was, anchored to the floor where Mikaboshi had stepped way from his side. His expression was plain in that he did not want to be here, caught in the wake of something much larger than he, but something prevented him from acting upon his desire to run away. For his part, he did as best a boy his age could do to hold in his emotions as he swallowed hard and tried not to let the fear of his situation creep any further unto his expression.

Mikaboshi however ignored the coming of Kazuki entirely -- another human was not of any consequence to him. His attention was entirely upon the wounded Suna that lay before him and the tiny morsel of soul energy that he held collected in his hand. To the eyes of Sousuke who was not initiated into such things like the soul arts, the spark would appear tiny -- a mass of energy barely the size of a candle flame. But to Suna and Kazuki such a mass of condensed soul energy was enormous... and told the tale of a great deal of death having been dealt to collect it. Mikaboshi was no longer bound by his contract to protect Sunagakure and therefore the populace of the city was a hunting ground for him to reap at his leisure. Before he had consumed enough to survive, and then some to maintain his level of prodigious strength, but the terms of his pact maintained that he could only hunt enough that his existence was not threatened as Sunagakure would certainly have been weaker and more vulnerable without Mikaboshi to protect it.

And it was. Without a being such as the ANBU Sennin to prevent his predations, Mikaboshi hunted and killed indiscriminately. It was made all the easier now that the genteel elements of society had moved to the surface colony and left the dregs to rot in the darkness of the cavern that they had all once called home.

Sousuke asked himself if this was the collected soul energy of those that he called his neighbors. The answer was a certain and grim "Yes".

"Zu'u lost kron." Mikaboshi explained in response to Suna's question. Their tongue did not have a word for "change" or "evolve". It was not a concept that ancients had ever truly understood in the past as they did not change. The sky was the sky and would always be what it was. The dark would always be the dark. But in the absence of either of those words, Mikaboshi chose the word for "conquer". "I have conquered", he told her in answer to her question which had asked him what he had done. There could only be one contextually right meaning.

That he had conquered what would have prevented his actions. Conquered his nature. He did not say how.

It become clear to him as he offered her the energy that she wasn't taking it because she could not. Pulling the soul energy back into his body as he wrapped his fingers once more into a tightly balled fist, Mikaboshi turned his burning eyes on Sousuke and for the first time the Steward might notice a clear difference. The gilded eyes that blazed behind the mask of Mikaboshi were not the eerie window-like vacant eyes that they had always been while he'd inhabited the meat suit that Sousuke had made for him. Rather these were true, living eyes.

And reflected within them could not be mistaken for anything else but wrath.

"Release her." Commanded Mikaboshi, his voice growing low as he growled his demand. "Immediately."

Mikaboshi did not bother to threaten. Each syllable of his command was pregnant with the unstated threat of imminent violence if he was not given his way and the former lord had every intention on delivering on that threat if Sousuke did not comply with his desire.|[legend="[[b][u]OOC Notes[/u][/b]] - [[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3A-lJQlrmk]SCENE BGM[/url]]"]
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Mikaboshi - Sand ANBU Sennin
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Sousuke whether he knew it or not was immune to the cold effects of Mikaboshi and Kazuki. The Steward received his answer to his previous query not from Mikaboshi, or Shiori it came from Kazuki. Kazuki was far more welcomed than Mikaboshi was at this point. Enough. It wasn't a hard number. what constituted as enough? Hundreds? Thousands? If thousands where did Mikaboshi go to gather such souls. Sousuke was subjected to a hard stare from Mikaboshi. The differences noted, and very quick did Sousuke conjured one of the two twin blades to defend himself as Mikaboshi issued demands and in turn threats. "No."<i></i> Sousuke answered as the second twin blade was grasped. The twin blades born from the Black Blade, but infused with Takahashi Fire steel with impossibly rare materials to strengthen the blades allowing them to slice through ancients. Shiori was victim to the blades, but so Zaxx. It was an attempt to re-engineer the sword of Primus. The original weapon could not be remade, but the twin blades in time would surpass the powers of the original. Should Mikaboshi flicker movement or anything the twin blades would be bloodied in shadow essence. They had already tasted the grains of sand that Shiori's body offered. "Let's think about this for a moment the last time you were in her presence, that I am aware of, you had your hands around her neck choking the life out of her. The diamond casing is holding her body together and preventing her from collapsing entirely. It is quite a leap between that event and now this. How very curious of you to come with such concern now of all times."<i></i>

It was curious though that Mikaboshi had been gone for a year. Now he appears and demands Shiori to be released. He knew precisely who she was which caused Sousuke to deduct that there had been another meeting between the two leading to a very different attitude at this present moment. After the battle with Shouki, Mikaboshi merely faded away. If Mikaboshi were indeed the arson who burnt down his apartment, and from Kazuki's description it did match what Mikaboshi did indeed offered him at the time... then one had to suspect that their meeting had occurred after the fire. The diamonds that kept Shiori in place would seemingly form around her throat and begin to tighten. Mikaboshi's living eyes did not give halt to Sousuke. It was telling, it was telling him what he needed to know. Mikaboshi evolved. He was something very different now, and in that it was what allowed him to indeed commit arson. It was an assumption but the evidence was ever so clear. Mikaboshi was the only Anbu to wear a mask that was of a human face. The others often took to animals to demons. "A fire happens the perpetrator was said to have a cold aura and a human face mask. Strange you return with a new body and were not present to investigate arson. Above your station if not for the fire spreading seemingly ... unnaturally."<i></i> The tensions increasing very so much as so was the diamond holding as it continued to expand further and further. "Consider yourself relieved of your position of Anbu Sennin, and director."<i></i>
 
Things were getting very heated and very rapidly. Mikaboshi was surely an intimidating figure, at least to most, but Kazuki was not impressed. With neither his commanding presence or his prodigious abilities. The Overlord looked toward Sousuke, waiting to hear the Steward's reply to the Sennin's threatening order. If he had any say in that, the White Wolf would tell the Purple Haired Man to stop his torture, because torture it was. That was very unlike Sousuke. If the Steward was a man of logic, and he was, why was he following what his emotions told him to? This was madness. Mikaboshi had just killed a few hundred individuals and was in top shape, if a fight were to break out, they would probably lose. Yet, the Takahashi Highlord was adamant on not letting Shiori go or stop his torture. "Stop it Sousuke. Your diamond case may be preventing her from total collapse, but you are also torturing her. That is so unlike you.Torture comes from a desire to hurt someone, and such desire stems from an emotion. You don't have them,remember?" the Silvery Haired Man noted. It was now that Sousuke needed to remember the former Sennin's words a few weeks ago. That he was going to do things that could look like treason in everyone's eyes, but they were just for the future benefit of Sunagakure and so he could gain Shiori's trust.
Nevertheless, if a fight broke out, he was not going to allow the Steward to fight alone.

OC
I know it is not much, but I've been told our good ol' Mikaboshi has an idea he doesn't want to waste. So I hurried my post.
 
"Release her... Immediately."<i></i>

Mikaboshi demanded her liberation. Shiori could not respond, it required what little endurance she still had to remain conscious against the encroaching darkness. There was not much left to her, Sousuke had ripped her to shreds. Left in this unnatural, nude and broken pose, he had cut into her numerous times and filled her open wounds with shifting and bulging stone. The thin shell that mimicked the human form was cracked and in the process of shattering. Jagged sheets of flesh-colored sand pierced into her slowly churning core. The crimson sand was almost the color of wine and it moved at a sluggish pace. Her chest could not heave from exertion, a diamond shell that encased her body was preventing her from taking a full breath. So shallow raspy breaths coupled with what could only be identified as the sounds of death and pain escaped her.

"No."

The Steward replied. He was armed with the distorted Black Blade that was once the pride of the Flame Court.

"Let's think about this for a moment the last time you were in her presence, that I am aware of, you had your hands around her neck choking the life out of her. The diamond casing is holding her body together and preventing her from collapsing entirely. It is quite a leap between that event and now this. How very curious of you to come with such concern now of all times."

Was Sousuke truly the benevolent one? The Steward reminded Mikaboshi, the Deep Court Ancient Lord of an earlier meeting, the very meeting that forever changed the relationship between Shiori and Sousuke. Prior to that moment where she saw her brother utterly subjugated she believed that it was simply a promise made by the Deep Court Lord that kept him in the Obsidian's shadows. That Sunagakure's proximity to the Lord's Ancient Court was why he perpetually lingered here. Then she saw a single command bring her Ancient brother to his knees. It was that revelation that the Steward Kage could command such authority over her kind that caused her to feel for the first time truly and utterly with her entire being fear. Trepidation replaced the feelings of friendship and companionship and even desire she once had for him, dread that one day he would discover what she was and that she would share Mikaboshi's fate. That choice, even more than what her nature dictated would be stripped away from her. He was willing to wield this authority indiscriminately, and the demeaning nature of it all for a once proud and powerful race that livestock would command the farmer. Yes, there was a part of her that felt that way deep inside of her, that felt she was better. That humans were nothing but brutes and savages. She remembered their earliest days -- when the first men came. When the many nomadic tribes scraped and wandered. When they discovered that the races of man were not entirely useless.

It seemed hypocritical that Sousuke spoke as if Mikaboshi was a threat to her, more so than the man who was choking the life from her. Was he truly her savior or a man of compassion -- no, he could not feel anything. That was why he could never love her. It was why she had to fear him, because he would never value her friendship over the power he could have if an Ancient was under this control. Here and now he had ripped her to shreds and left her at this apex of agony at the cusp of death and denied her release or respite. Her loss of vital substance halted by rough stone. Her uncovered body left to writhe and twist before her unnatural pained pose was left frozen in place. Still Sousuke continued on, he spoke with annoyance and perhaps he felt something but it was not for anyone but himself, if she were to call it something it would be closest akin to pride.

"A fire happens the perpetrator was said to have a cold aura and a human face mask. Strange you return with a new body and were not present to investigate arson. Above your station if not for the fire spreading seemingly ... unnaturally."

The diamond casing, so unforgiving and cold as a sheet of frost ensconced what was left of her damaged form. She was going to die here, her executioner and potentially only living family would be the only witnesses to her indignant final state. The prismatic crystalline gem crept upwards from her already deeply depressed breast. In slow, creeping tendrils of rock that came over her throat it did not just cover her over and stop her from turning away from the possible fray but it also started to compress her windpipe or at the very least the Ancient biological equivalent.

"Stop it Sousuke. Your diamond case may be preventing her from total collapse, but you are also torturing her. That is so unlike you.Torture comes from a desire to hurt someone, and such desire stems from an emotion. You don't have them,remember?"

She could not scream. She could not whimper or cry. The sound of her death was now relegated to a soft whistling wheeze that was short and abrupt before no further air would pass. She was not able to force a breath, to overcome the circumferential pressure that prevented the expansion of her ribs and the passage of air through her straw-like passageway that was now collapsed.

She was not able to hold on any longer, she was slipping... slipping away.
Shiori has been KO'd​
 
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